Jensen, Mia (Utah State University)
Faculty Advisor: Kinkead, Joyce (College of Humanities and Social Sciences, English Department)
Undergraduate English majors are constantly bombarded with writing heavy assignments. Although these students are some of the most comprehensive writers in the university, several are still apprehensive about their writing assignments. Meditation (active mindful breathing), is increasingly growing traction in the mental health community as a means to lower stress. Could students utilize the calming effects of meditation to improve their apprehension towards writing? The study conducted aims to identify what relationship if any, meditation has on the journals of English majors at Utah State University. Eight English majors gathered together and wrote in a journal for ten minutes. Afterward, they listened to a ten minute guided meditation practice followed by another ten minutes of journaling. Finally, the students answered a Qualtrics survey about their experience. The research sought to answer questions like, "did their vocabulary change?", "did they feel more or less apprehensive writing the second journal?", and, "could they focus more or less on the second journal?". Could the results influence students and teachers alike to include meditation in their pre-writing rituals?